Poll: Can a fan base ruin your fandom, interest, and support of a franchise?

[Ironbat92]

I've been a Mass Effect fan for a few years, and ever since that "event", I've been finding it harder and harder to be affiliated with it. I love Mass Effect and Bioware, but I'm finding it harder and to like them since the fans have turned into a bunch of cynical, hateful assholes. Not just because of that "event," but the other incidents. The Jennifer Helper Incident, the reaction to the anime movies about Dragon Age and Mass Effect, to people no longer wanting to be fans over a picture of Pinkie Pie in a Commander Shepard outfit some fan drew. It's stuff like that, which has been making it for me to still even consider myself a fan. I'm starting to understand more why People hate CoD. But, I wanted to know from all of you reading this if this would be a good reason to hate series. Should you denounce your fandom because of it's fan base?

 

[Artina89]

I try and see for myself whether or not I like a particular franchise and not look at the fanbase. For example, I don't really like Call of duty, I tried it, even though I am not a big fan of FPS's on the whole and I didn't particularly enjoy it. A couple of friends of mine really enjoy the game and they are among the nicest people I have met. Sometimes, by focusing just on the more negative aspects of a particular fanbase and deciding you won't like something, you can potentially miss out on something you would enjoy.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

No, because I just ignore the assholes.

Same here.
Ignorance is bliss, eh?

Still doesn't stop people outside the fanbase cherry-picking the worst apple in the basket, and assuming ALL the apples in said basket are just as bad (I get pissed off at people doing this, but that's another topic for another time).

A few bad apples spoil the bunch, INDEED. But as you said, different topic, different time.
Anyway.
My jimmies have been rustled on more than one occasion but to the point where I no longer enjoy the thing itself? Nah, it doesn't happen.
Don't hate the game, hate the player.
...
Is that how I phrase goes?
I feel like I have it backwards.

 

[Kennetic]

I loved Call of Duty until it started pandering to the endless hordes of morons that were jumping on the bandwagon. CoD4: awesome. WaW: Almost as good as 4 but not quite. MW2 on: WTF is this shit!

 

[Entitled]

No, fandoms are awesome. The more vocal and enthusiastic they are, the more I love the thing along with them.

 

[Nazulu]

Personally, I would never let a fan base disrupt my interests. I will even consider completely ignoring all other fans if it really becomes that bad, though I've never had that problem. You have to remember there will always be other fans like you just enjoying the ride, and maybe you will find people that may have some complaints but are pretty level headed.

There is always some fucks telling you how it is, or even those fans who make creepy comics suited to certain fetishes, and then there are the pricks that have to generalise all the fans of the franchise as the same as the fucks or the perverts. I can see how it would put someone of being called a fan when that happens. Such as when I got into MLP, all the fans on one page in another forum announced Fluttershy is the best and those who disagree don't know what they're talking about or are just not fans. Obviously you ignore these assholes, then you can either look around for people with some sense, or tell them they're full of shit and this is why. I would encourage fighting back, but I know that's not for everyone.

 

[malestrithe]

Normally no. I just see them as over excited fans and that's it.

Sometimes, a militant fanboy can ruin my experience of something before I've had a chance to view/ read it. If anything, it serves to make me hate the item more if it was overhyped to me. There are a ton of things I can't watch or enjoy simply because someone overhyped it to me. When I watched Firefly, I saw a disjointed mess and not the best thing evar. I thought Avengers was okay at best, but that's the wrong opinion with my friends and coworkers. I have not read Lord of the Rings because it bored me to tears. I did not see the big fucking deal behind Watchmen after I read it.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

eh if it's on the internet and stuff, more then likely it won't bug me...but if i know people in person who are extremist/ignorant as fuck about something, then yeah, it can ruin it a bit for me. Shit just gets annoying and old and i don't want to deal/associate a connection to that person.

 

[kommando367]

If I like a game, then fuck what everyone else says, I'll still enjoy it.
If I don't like a game, then I just don't like the game.

 

[xplosive59]

I tend to dislike and ignore most fandoms, they are usually the reason why my like for something can go sour.

 

[ThisGuyLikesNoTacos]

My interest can be ruined by fans who yell about how their thing is better then mine. I know it's not logical or fair, but I just can't be arsed because of these people.

But I'd never stop supporting a franchise I like because it's fans are assholes. They're not the reason I joined, they're not the reason I leave.

 

[Entitled]

Such as when I got into MLP, all the fans on one page in another forum announced Fluttershy is the best and those who disagree don't know what they're talking about or are just not fans. Obviously you ignore these assholes, then you can either look around for people with some sense, or tell them they're full of shit and this is why. I would encourage fighting back, but I know that's not for everyone.

Are you sure that it was not just a tongue-in-cheek "X is best pony" meme going on? Bronies in general have a very common habit of mocking that kind of character-favorism, by screaming "BEST PONY"! all the time, but often chaging the name multiple times even mid-episode.

 

[Vegosiux]

Are you sure that it was not just a tongue-in-cheek "X is best pony" meme going on? Bronies in general have a very common habit of mocking that kind of character-favorism, by screaming "BEST PONY"! all the time, but often chaging the name multiple times even mid-episode.

If you think bronies are bad, then stay the hell away from the BioWare forums. Seriously, with all the Tali vs. not-Tali character favoritism going on there...

But generally, on topic, it depends. In a game like LoL, damn right a rotten community will put me off, considering thegame is designed the way you have to keep running into it or limit yourself to bot games. Butif I can enjoy the full potential of a game without having to deal with a lousy community, well, what do I care about it.

 

[Iwata]

Up until recently, no. But the whole ME3 debacle made me go from wanting to try the games, to never wanting to hear from them again.

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

Yes.

I will never watch MLP because of the hordes of irritating *Bronies. I will never play LoL because of all those irritating wankers who take the game as serious business. I will also never play CoD because of all the idiots who upload crappy no-scope videos on youtube with generic dubstep in the back despite genuinely enjoying Black Ops.

Ignoring the vocal, pretentious and downright shitty minority is no longer feasible when they are so vocal, they're almost impossible not to at least hear them a few dozen times. And I'm very good at keeping my head in a tar filled bucket about crap I have no interest in.

*Please note, I don't consider Bronies and people who like the show the same thing. I don't give a crap what you watch or what you enjoy.

 

[TheHmm]

I girl i know says she wont vote for a party she agrees with, because a large part of the voters that vote for that party are racist.

 

[Lugbzurg]

I had been thinking about this lately. I'd been thinking about looking into The Elder Scrolls. Seemed like that would be an interesting series to try. Like many, I hadn't even heard of it until I was browsing through trailers for upcoming games and stumbled upon one for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. And it seems like something I might enjoy, as I love exploration. The Legend of Zelda, Frogger, Doom, various sandbox games, and several Sonic games ('till around 2007) I've enjoyed. But this fanbase really annoys me. It's very clear that the vocal majority of fans actually believe that Skyrim is the first installment of a brand new franchise, failing to realize it's from a series that's been around since 1994! Even "professional" journalists do this. Mostly the same types of people who get Link and Zelda mixed up, but still...! Plus, "Arrow to the Knee" got so old, so irrelevant, so fast.